Friends without benifits
by TheMiddleMan9
Summary: Vinnie wishes to learn more about sunil's past to make his friend's birthday gift extra special. But as he delves deeper into sunil's past he realizes that he wasn't sunil's first "best bud" in the petshop. Why did the two grow up to be just mere acquaintances rather than keep their tight bond? And could they be reconciled again... or even go further than friendship? SEPPER
1. Chapter 1

"Vinnie!" Russell yelled at the sight of the lizards workings, quickly running towards him.

"What man?" he replied, looking up from his "project" .

Russell reached him finally, "we have only a few more bottles of glue left Vinnie... don't you think

that's a bit much", Russell was referring to the waterfall of glue Vinnie had applied to the collage he

was working on... for a single pipe cleaner no less.

"It's a pipe cleaner dude... I'm working with plumber stuff here... you cant complain about me using a

lot of glue, would you rather me weld it on their like they do?". Russell sighed, he wished he could

correct him on his logic... but he had work to do, and little time to do it.

"Just try to use less Vinnie... look" Russell demonstrated " you only need a bit".

"Oh thanks bro", Vinnie replied. With that Russell headed off to the other end of the Petshop, eager to

sort out the new toys that just came in. "Wait Russell!", Vinnie cried out, "I have to ask you something".

"I'm kinda busy right now Vinnie", Russell said.

"Well it'll only take a minute".

"I don't have a minute" Russell shot back, "my owners are coming soon , if it's really important talk to

me while I'm working ".

"Well ok... I wanna know what Sunil's childhood was like", Vinnie stated.

Russell paused and looked up, "Sunil's childhood... why?".

Vinnie answered "My birthday present ", he said holding his collage up "I'm making a collage about our

friendship, ya know, and i'm writing a poem with it, I wanna know what he was like when he first came

here as a kid."

Russell pondered further... he considered this gift weird, way to mushy as a gift. But Sunil had a close

relationship with Vinnie, and when he examined their closeness further he thought about his

relationship with his owner.. and realized he would (and did) do the exact same kinds of things with

her. "But why his childhood?" he asked, still confused about such implications .

" I got it from a movie we watched" Vinnie said, "Brad Schmitt travelled back in time in some thingy to

find out about his buddies childhood, to save the future or something... it was cool."

'Sounds like a movie they'd watch'

Russell thought. After pondering further he shot back "well if you want to know what he was like when

he first came here I only talked and played with him a bit, but I don't know much more about what he

was like than you do, we were just playmates". Russell thought harder, truly wishing to help his friend

out. "If you want you can ask Pepper" .

"What would pepper know, more than you, you were here at the same time weren't you?" Vinnie

asked.

"She used to be closefriends with him when he first came to the shop, kinda like you guys I guess,".

Vinnie screwed up his face. 'Close friends? ' he thought to himself 'like me and Sunil'... 'Pepper?!'. Of

course Sunil and Pepper were friends in the past, they still were now, everyone in the Petshop was

friends, that didn't shock him. But best friends, that was strange, unbelievable. Sunil had quipped to

Vinnie, in exact quotes "I've never had such a good friend Vinnie, your the best". He needed to find out

more about this, he thought long and hard until he was picked up by the Terrio's, and even more in his

bed. He needed to find out why they were friends, and more specifically why the two weren't so close

now.


	2. chapter 2

**Hey guys I'm sorry I didn't give a message in my first chapter… this is my first true fanfic and I would appreciate constructive criticism, and what if any themes on the side you might want me to add in the  
story later on…. I expect this story to be at least 5 or 6 chapters long, so I would enjoy input… thank you for reading. Enjoy the story. **

Vinnie's mind continued to race throughout the night and into the morning. He couldn't understand the

information that had just been brought to them. And so many possible reasons. Did they drift apart like

distant friends do sometimes? Did they have a fight or a falling out? Did one of them move away? Did

someone come in and break them up? That last possibility scared him the most, he could distinctly

remember that first day he came into the petshop, and one of the first sites he saw after Mrs. Twombly

introduced him was Sunil and Pepper chatting and laughing with each other, like good buddies do, and

rarely ever saw them that close again. Needless to say Vinnie became friends with him soon after, the

thought racked himwith guilt….. did Sunil and his relationship get in the way of theirs.. did he "steal"

Sunil from Pepper? He stopped thinking when his owner dropped him off, he then tried to come up with

what he would ask Pepper, how he would phrase the question. When he had his words rehearsed and

his question carefully worded he came approached the skunk. "Uhhh Pepper…. Can I ask ya something?"

… pepper turned around

"sure" she said… with a large eager smile on her face. Then it hit him, he

couldn't do it… if theyhad started off as good friends obviously it would be a sensitive issue to talk

aboutthere separation… and she looked so content and ready to answer her friend, he couldn't do it.

"Uhhhh can I borrow one of your balloons, for uh thing, I guess."

"Sure buddy" she said as she reached into sack of tricks, pulling out a large empty balloon and handing it

to him. "Thanks" he said, 'your such a chicken Vinnie, _bock bock bAHHK'_ he muttered under his breath.

He was going to have to find out about there relationship another way. He needed to find out from

someone else, Russell was out of course, Blythe couldn't help either . Then that tiny brain of his kicked

back in again, he'd ask Zoe! She had been at the pet shop at that time, and had always been close with

Pepper, if anybody were to know what happenedwith the two she would know….. pepper told

everything to Zoe, if something happened she could tell him. He ran over to Zoe….. whowas busy

chewing on her favorite toy at the back of the petshop. Vinnie walked over to her and spoke,

"Hey Zoecan I ask you a question ".

"Why of course Vin..."

and before she could reply Vinnie half shouted "Tell me what happened to Pepper and Sunil" . She was

taken aback at the vigour of the small lizard.

"Well someone is being brash today" she cleared her throat, "say that again dear".

"Sorry... what's wrong with Pepper and Sunil, ya know, with their relationship." Just then a smile grew

across her face.

"Oh my... your smarter than I thought Vinnie, there's something drastically wrong... how could she

not with him hiding under her tail all the time... and how could he not see it with her awkward teasing,

I cannot stand people who can't express there feelings..." . Vinnie had tuned out at this point,

he could barely pay attention to regular conversation much less the ramblings of the dramatic pop star.

"No Zoe!... I know you've been friends with Pepper... and like Russell told me that Pepper and

Sunil used to be friends... good friends... great friends... like I just wanna know why they aren't

Now."

She was taken aback by the rush of vocabulary by the slow skink "Your absolutely right now that I think

about it" she paused "They were so close... it was adorable" a loud swoon left her lips "I don't know

exactly why they broke up..."

The lizard felt defeated "Well can you tell me about they're relationship... ya know what it used to be,

so I can piece it toget..."

"OK!" she screamed with joy... anticipating telling him the great tale. She got settled in a pillow.

"Sit down big boy... this is gonna be LOOONNNG".

Vinnie groaned... then took a big gulp of air... sitting down as well.

**I hate cliff hangers... but I can assure you we WILL get to sepper.**

**Sit down big boys and girls... this is gonna be lOOONNNGG.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guy chapter 3 here….. and to ****greatveemon** **I cant even begin to imagine this being animated… I give you full permission to use this story for that! **

Zoe began to tell Vinnie about how it all started, how Sunil first came in to the pet shop…. of course

Sunil had told his version of this to Vinnie in the past…. but of course Zoe was focused on telling what

happened to Pepper… and what she saw.

Mrs. Twombly lined the pets up for the customary greeting that was to be had every time a new pet

came. "Alright pets we have a new camper today" Mrs. Twombly said …. with Pepper in the corner

taking the liberty to mouth out each of her customary speech. "We have a nice Indian couple who just

moved in upstairs, they have a mongoose they'd like us to have for awhile….. his name is Sunil." As she

opened cage the mongoose did not emerge, the pets looked in the cage…. spotting a dark mass curled

up in the corner, Zoe told Vinnie that she thought he was shaking. "Oh come on out little fella" Mrs.

Twombly said as she tipped the cage over slightly to prod the creature out. Out plopped a mongoose,

blueish green with bright yellow eyes. Zoe recalled that his eyes were filled with fear, he shivered as he

took one good look at the pets and darted to the corner of the room. Mrs. Twombly left to go into the

storefront. All the pets stood still with confusion, observing the creature with his head facing the wall,

curled up in the corner.

"Should we introduce ourselves to him" Rusell said... making Vinnie cringe at Zoe's attempt to

impersonate his younger warbly voice.

"Well he's obviously shy Russell... leave him be... he'll come to us eventually" Zoe said . After that the

pets went off to play... but not Pepper. She stood their. She was upset that she didn't get to introduce

herself to the mongoose. Every time she introduced herself to a new pet she would play a prank...

whether it be a spraying flower or a hand buzzer, it almost always got everyone laughing, but most

important it usually made the newcomer laugh... and the smile on their face was worth it every time.

She decided she would approach him first. As she got close she tapped him on the shoulder, he quickly

turned around, causing Pepper to jump.

"Um ... hello", the wide fear filled eyes calmed slightly as he sensed the benevolence in her voice.

"h...h... hello" the creature peeped, in a thick Indian accent. Pepper had never heard such an accent

said so naturally, she had only heard it in stereotypical sitcoms. It was smooth and nice, she could say it

was even somewhat beautiful , Babu Bhatt and apu had nothing on this guy. Sunil began to point weirdly

at Peppers face. She looked down and realized he was looking at her orthodontic wire.

"That... is... that is..." the creature peeped , he had never seen mouth wires on anybody, he had se

braces on the occasional Brahman child but he had never seen such a wire on a person in Mumbai,

little own a pet.

"Oh this thingy... it's a wire... my teeth are crooked" . She saw the Mongoose trying desperately hard

to comprehend her words.

"This... w...wire... your teeth?", at that moment she could understand that english was not natural

To him.

"Yes"... she began to mime "IT MAKES THEM STRAIGHT" gesturing to her teeth. A small grin grew

across Sunil's face as she goofily tried to demonstrate to him.

'Alright Pepper he's bitten at the hook, now reel em in' she began to gesture to the flower on her chest.

"Look at this" she gestured pointing at her eyes to the flower, "its a flower".

"Why flower on chest" he giggled.

"Smell it... its a lilac" Sunil came over close to her, he put his nose up to the plastic flower... and

then... SQUIRT! He immediately flew back... scared and soaking wet, astonished by the

unexpected gush of water. He looked up at Pepper confused and miserable for a good few seconds.

Pepper became worried, maybe she had gone to far this time, her jokes may have annoyed people

But they never terrified them. She looked back at him with pleading eyes... almost trying to apologize

through her stare his open mouthed frown began to slowly form... changing into a straight

face... still with wide eyes that face changed from a calm smile... and then to a laugh.

"He he he... Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha HA HA HA HA! Pepper grinned wildely in victory... and

began to laugh with him.

**And as to greatveemons I'm sorry if I got the characters addition to the pet shop wrong... I haven't watched an episode that says such a thing... anyway hope you guys like it I got a chapter coming every two days :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**So the next few chapter will be focused on Sunil and Peppers experience as friends and will show them growing to work with each other and grow closer. The 'incident' will come later. Thank you and enjoy.**

Over the next week Sunil kept to himself and didn't interact with anyone very strongly in the

pet shop, except Pepper. He would sit in the corner and play with himself, muttering hindi

under his breath or play with a small ball in his paws that he brought form home . However

whenever Pepper came over to talk to him he would perk up. They would roughhouse , toss his

ball back and forth, Pepper would play a prank on him and he would laugh (sometimes just to

make pepper happy.) and even through the small gap in language barrier they would have

long... slow interpreting conversations about what their home was like and what they did

with their owners. After a while during these sessions Pepper would leave Sunil and play with

the rest of the pets, he would sit and play by himself. Pepper began to notice this pattern after

a few days, she would see Sunil sit by himself... and every once and awhile he would let out a

deep sigh. She hated seeing anyone upset, especially someone she got along well with... and

she especially hated when people would mope around and not open up.

On the third day she was just about fed up with it. "Time to add some Pepper to the curry"* she

muttered under her breath. She scampered over to Sunil. "Get up Sunil" she said feverishly.

"What?" Sunil said.

"Get up, were going to play a game with the other pets silly, you've sat here all week, you can't

Just sit around all day... you'll get fat... get up!"

"NO ! NO!" he yelled with wide eyes. "I... do not... play... good with people, back near India I

did not even play... I am wierd... they laugh at me!"

"Well these people are nice, they won't laugh at you, they play nice alrighty... now get up"

"No!... i do not want to." He stated firmly. Pepper became angry.

"Fine! Be stupid... I know you want to play with us... I can see it in your eyes, you wanted to

Play with your friends back in India and you want to play with us now. And when your ready to

come play... we'll be over there waiting." And she scampered off to play with her friends.

Sunil began to think in his head... her words stewing in his mind. Maybe his fear was irrational,

And she was right about one thing... he did want to play with the pets. He was torn as to what

do, he wanted to keep himself away from the possibility of getting hurt but play at the same

time. Then took a look at them... specifically a look at Pepper. She sat their staring at Sunil,

she had a frown on her face, a frown of sympathy and hurt in the midst of the smiling faces in

their gaming circle. He realized something at that moment... he didn't want to hurt her either,

he didn't want to see that look on her anymore. He wanted her sadness to be wiped clean, he

wanted to play, and he didn't want to get hurt himself. It clicked in his mind if he wanted to fix

two of the problems he had to sacrifice one. And with that he frightfully skimped over to the

pets. And at that moment Peppers frown disappeared, a bashful smile taking it's place,

making him smile further... pushing him closer to the group. And finally with one joyful burst

he half shouted half spoke the words: "Hello my friends... what are we playing?"

The pets were immediately takin aback at the sudden burst of energy from the mongoose, who

had remained so quieter earlier on. "Were playing duck duck goose Sunil, do you know the

rules." The mongoose took time to interpret the silliness of the title of the game.

Through a laugh he said "No i do not... tell me how".

Pepper butted in, "He doesn't know English perfectly, make sure you act everything out for

him. Russell eagerly took the job on himself and began to explain it, as he did Pepper caught

Sunil's eyes... and gave him a smile and wink... as if to say 'good job buddy, I knew you had it

In ya'. Sunil smiled back... it was no surprise who his first pick to be goose was.

**Are you guys liking the story? PM me or write a review to tell me what i can do to improve...**

**Or don't... just sit back and enjoy the ride. Next chapter on Tuesday guys **


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys... I'm extremely sorry i didn't keep my promise... i promised i would upload a chapter every 2 days... however it has been 2 months since i last updated. I had multiple essays and tests due for school as well as a multitude of cultural holiday stuff... thank you if you still remember the story after this long. If you are new i recommend you read from chapter 1... if you already read this story feel free to go back and re read it or dive right into the continuation. Enjoy **

As the weeks began to pass, early fall turned into winter (REAL TIME CONTINUITY FOR THE WIN!) ,

Sunil had been getting along with the pets better increasingly, and it was all thanks to Pepper. The pets

also began to notice that he would talk better English following his increased integration with the pets ,

he started to speak faster and his voice became naturally louder. He got closer to the pets and felt more

comfortable around the group of friends, and with that came the pets first exposure to his natural talent

as a magician. Sunil, although closer to the pets was still quite quiet towards the pets, but not the day

when he brought his Little magic kit to the shop .

"Guys guys... can i show you something?" he gestured them over with his hands excitedly... they all

stopped what they were doing and gathered around with intrigue. He threw on his shiny cape and

pulled a shiny black hat and long wand out of his magic kit, all the pets gawked at the shinyand

mysterious objects, waiting on his every move to fulfill their lusts of intrigue.

"I am needing a volunteer to give me something to put in it", Pepper gleefully handed over her

cowboy hat that she used to wear.

"MAKE IT DISAPEAR SUNIL... MAKE IT DISAPEAR!" Zoe yelled out, describing with great detail to

Vinnie in the present how dreadful the ten gallon looked on Pepper. He took the hat and began to

shove it in length by length (as Peppers hat was bigger than his magic top hat) when he finished let out a

nervous grin... ready to show the pets his handiwork, he tipped over the hat to face them... and

nothing was there. The pets cheered loudly, congratulating Sunil left and right... except Pepper who

stayed in the back, letting out restrained giggles and trying hard to keep a

straight face, a weird display as he had made her hat disappear and performed a cool trick, zoe

explained normal person would either be mad that their hat had disappeared or amazed at the trick, not

laughing under her breath or certainly not physically trying to keep a straight face. Russell began to

speak when the crowd quieted down.

"So where did you hide it Sunil? Did you funnel It through and

opening in the top into your cape or does it have a secret compartment inside?", Sunil

visibly froze up... his face turned to abject terror and his body became stiff, Russell had found it out one

way or another.

"Rusell!" Penny yelled..."Just because your intelligent doesn't mean you get to ruin your friends secret

trick!".

"Yes Russell" Zoey added "Don't tell us where the hat could have disappeared... PLEASE don't tell us

where the hat could have disappeared".

Sunil sprang up with glee, he had quickly come up with a solution, the clockworks in his mind fixing the

problem. "Behold as i wave my magic wand over the hat, and make the item reappear in front of your

eyes", he waved the wand and reached into the hat. However when he put his hand in he stopped... his

face became twisted and confused, he felt around in the hat, each passing second his expressions

becoming more visible. Pepper made an audible muffled snort, trying to keep back her laughter. Sunil

finally gave up afterA quarter minute of trying, he tipped the hat up to see what was wrong, he reached

in and fiddled with the bottom of the hat, tapping the outer top to get the hat to come out... and it did

... as he tapped a full litre of disgusting green mush flowed/fell from the hat, the revolting liquid

poured all over the mongooses face and the floor, and along with it came Peppers hat covered in the

liquid. The mongoose looked with abject horror at his peers... drenched in the wet slimy liquid...

looking to them as a gazelle would a lion. Pepper began to shriek with laughter, rolling on the floor in a

ball, as she the rest of the pets began to snicker and snort... trying to hold it back like Pepper had

before.

"Looks like it was hid in the ... _snicker_... COMPARTMENT!" The pets began to laugh

along... shrieking and rolling in unison. Sunil looked with terror understanding full well what had

happened... Pepper was a prankster at heart... Sunil had known that from the two months he had

claimed her as a friend. She would misplace things of his and then present them after some laughs, a

hand buzzer, whoppie cushions and the like... he had never minded it much no matter how bad it got as

it was small, sometimes it made him laugh and others made him annoyed but nonetheless he put up

with it for friendship sake. But this was different, this was a spur of the moment crime, she had planned

this. Pepper had been shown the trick multiple times as he was her closest friend, he trusted her most

and was the she was the first friendly guinea pig to see his handiwork , Sunil had

remembered with happiness and joy as his friends eyes lit up at the trick when she first saw it, how

intrigued she was and how much her friend had impressed her . He showed that trick and many other

to her over and over, and after many weeks of pent up curiosity she asked him how they worked...

of course Sunil said that it was the magicians secret and that he couldn't tell, but after pleading he

couldn't deny his friend. Pepper was showed the secret compartment, and she looked upon the new

info with innocence and intrigue... but that wasn't the case earlier today. He had seen her fiddling

with his hat while giggling, poking at it and fondling the inside of it.

"Oh nothing Sunil, i'm just having fun with it", she said when she was asked what she was doing.

"Well ok but do not break anything". He had trusted her and didn't think much of her suspicious actions,

with both his tools and his friendship he had trusted her.

And in that moment... as he was covered in

green pudding, his friends laughing hysterically... his childlike mind couldn't take it. The wet pudding on

his fur, his friends laughing mockingly at his mistakes, the realization of his best friend in the world

betraying his trust, as he took it all in he began to cry... louder... louder... louder... until he was near

screaming. He scurried away from the area... tears flowing madly from his eyes, shrieking like a

banshee all the way.

**Holy crap was that dark for me to write... it gets better soon I promise... anyways review and tell me what you think... peace. **


	6. Chapter 6

**Wellcome back everyone... hope you like the new chapter... and as to guest 123 i will not be doing an**

**Blythe x Russel fic, i would be ok with doing it in a world like regular show or adventure time where **

**the characters are anthro but in LPS the characters are solidly animal so it is bestiality... sorry **

**Anyways enjoy!**

"So THATS why they there not so close anymore!" Vinnie proclaimed, "but that doesn't seem right...

Pepper does that stuff all the time... if that happened to Sunil today he would just be bitter not scared

and stuff" .

"You have to understand Vinnie, he was a little kid then , he was more sensitive and timid,

and that trick put him in a awkward spot with his friends", Zoe replied "But on another note i am happy

to say that part of the story actually ended much better".

"UGh... i thought you said we were almost done with the story, you have more"? Vinnie shot back.

"Well you aren't very patient are you" Zoe said with a huff, "but we are almost done, so just endure for

A little longer".

Back in the past all the pets began to slowly come down from their laughter high after they saw Sunil

running away crying. All the pets began to worry at the reaction of their new friend, there face wide

grins slowly forming to deep frowns.

"Oh my... w...we shouldn't have done that should we?" Minka said in a sad tone none of them were

not used to hearing from such a hyperactive monkey.

"OOHHHHHH he looked so upset, poor little guy", Penny said welling up tears in her eyes.

Pepper was an exception to the pets, although her joyful squeels had died down with the absence of her

friends contagious laughter, she was still nonetheless giggling, giggling loud enough that she couldn't

hear the pets reaction, still caught up in the reaction her prank got out of her friends.

The pets began to get angry, frowns turning to scowls, there attention being focused to the skunk

next to them.

"PEPPER WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU!?" Zoe yelled. Pepper abruptly stopped laughing and looked

to her.

"Whaddya mean, what's wrong with me?" She asked.

"LOOK AT WHAT YOU DID TO HIM!". Zoey shot back.

"It was just a joke".

"AND LOOK AT HOW UPSET HE IS, ALL FOR A RIDICULOUS JOKE!"

Pepper got angry "WELL YOU LAUGHED, IT COULDNT HAVE BEEN THAT RIDICULOUS!"

Zoe calmed down to bring the conversation back to reason. "The laughter was contagious and came

from _Russels comment _" Saying Russell with emphasis and looking at him with a angry glare, Russell

cringed. "The point im trying to make is that your joke was scary, and was mean spirited, you cant do

those kinds of things without permission, especially to a pup so sensitive as Sunil"

Pepper frowned "ya really think so huh?" she looked over at Sunil in the corner. "I shouldn't have done

that, he wont want me to be my buddy anymore"

Zoe said replied "theres only one way to find out".

Pepper sighed, and began her walk of shame to Sunil. As her tail began to produce her sickly odor her

consciousness was filled with sadness and worry, she was terrified Sunil might never be her friend again,

terrified that she had finally gone too farin one of her jokes and that she might have ended up loosing

something large because it. She was filledwith so much grief for how her action might affect her... but

she felt something else... something new. She was truly upset for Sunil, in the time it took her to walk to

him the look of his terror stewed in hermind, replaying over again in her thoughts and it made her upset

for him. Of course this wasn't the first time she felt sympathy towards someone but she had always had

a streak of apathy towards her prank "victims". Because she had such a bond with Sunil it made her

finally realize just how her jokes could effect the people she cared about.

She reached Sunil, leaving a trail of her sadness stink behind her. "Hey Sunny, buddy, are you ok" she

said to the mongoose in the corner.

Sunil turned around, teeth barred and eyes stained with tears "GO AWAY RAKSHASHI! YOU STUPID

GIRL"

Pepper began to make tears as she spoke "Please forgive me Sunil, Im sorry, i just wanted to make some

fun... that's all".

"WELL IT WAS NOT FUNNY YOUNG KRISHNA, GO AWAY, YOU ARE JUST LIKE THE PUPS IN INDIA WHO

MADE FUN ME ALWAYS... GO AWAY." He said back

"Im not the people in india! Im your best friend... I shouldn't have done that to you. You are my best

friend. I realize it hurt you and im sorry. ILL NEVER DO IT AGAIN PLEASE FORGIVE ME!", she pleaded

to her friend.

Sunil paused, and turned around to face her, intrigue and curiosity shinning through his tears.

She continued "I just do it cause i wanna see people laugh, i wanna make people happy, i didn't want to

make you sad, if i knew it was make you scared i wouldn't have done it"

"How! You know i am scared at things, you know i am a frady cat, and you did it in front of my other

Friends too, now they will laugh at me, you should have known!" he replied.

"Your not a frady cat Sunil!" Sunil looked at her with disbelief. "Well i mean you don't have to be, you

played with the rest of the gang, you have shown you can do it, you can get over them. And they WONT

treat you like the pups in india, they are better than that, they care about you."

Sunil began to calm down. "you are sure Pepper?"

"Positive buddy!, they love, they love you like i do. Im sorry that i did it, ill never do it again, i don't want

Hurt you, you are my best friend, im so sorry."

Sunil looked on, "And if you don't wanna be my friend ill understand, but don't give up on the other

Guys just because they laughed at you, they really like you"

Sunil stood up "I would not loose you as a friend, even if you were not sorry Pepper"

"I AM SORRY" she shot back.

"Thank you, Pepper, you are my best friend... and you can make jokes on me, just do not be so hard,

And ask us what we can take before you do them"

Pepper jumped up and hugged the mongoose tightly, making him blush, her soft fur in his face. "thank

you sunil, im sorry for scaring you".

"And i am sorry for calling you a demon Pepper", Sunil said back.

"You called me a demon? When?"

"When i called you rakshahi, it is a demon in Indian, i am sorry" he replied.

"Well, it wasn't completely wrong i guess, what i did was stupid".

Just then as there conversation died down they heard a ruckus from the other side of the room. Zoe's

loud voice was heard in the backround.

"Russell if you don't say sorry for your joke I will hide ALL of your

checklist paper. And i will mix a black glitter in all the rest of the glitters, do i make myself clear,

PORCUPINE!"

He rushed over immediately "ImsorrySunilforthejokeaboutimadeaboutyourhatitwasstupidimsorry"

Russell spewed quickly to Sunil.

"its allright Russell... it was kinda funny i guess" Sunil said back.

Russell ran back quickly rushed back to his things in a panic "DONT TOUCH MY THINGS!"

Sunil and Pepper laughed. "You want me to show you another trick friend" Sunil said to Pepper.

Pepper giggled "Sure... _friend"_ emphasizing friend in a silly Indian accent. They rushed off, ready to

continue there play.

**MERRY NEW YEARS EVERYONE! GOOD LUCK IN FORGETTING YOUR AQUAINTANCE OR WHATEVER!**

**Again constructive criticism of my story is appreciated and tell me again, what else you want me to **

**put in the story.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Bad news guys, my last chapter only got 36 views ****, email it to your fellow fans of lps if you want **

**Others to see it. Any way i hope you enjoy!**

"And that's the end of the story", Zoe said as she cheerfully smiled.

"So if that didn't break them up what did?" Vinnie said in bewilderment. Zoe quaintly pursed her lips

and shrugged her shoulders.

"SO WHY HELL DID YOU EVEN TAKE 2 DAYS TO TELL ME THE STORY!?". Vinnie nearly screamed

"VINNIE! Im surprised at you." calmly brushing his spittle from her face fur. "You should be grateful i

took time out of my busy schedule to tell you the budding of the _inevitable _romance of our friends."

Vinnie shook... producing visible steam from his nose. He managed to calm himself in effort to save

himself from more of Zoe's whining. "But I asked you to tell me what happened between them that

made them break up... at least i thought i did... do you have any idea what it might of been."

"Not really Vinnie", she said back, "Im honestly just as baffled as you are how it happened, I seriously

Doubt it was a single event that caused it."

"Can you tell me what happened after all that stuff to them?" he said.

"I don't know", she continued "They both just were playmates like you, they got into stupid schemes

and they played stupid games, they were really close and really happy" She began to swoon "Oh but

they were so much more cuter together, they were at a level that two males being friends couldn't

reach... OOHhhhhhhhh they would hold hands and hug each other when they met", She sighed a

loud swoon. "Then i don't know what happened... over the course of what seemed like only a month or

two... it all ended, they became about as strong of friends as you and i are".

Vinnie paused... baffled and broken... the case made him feel more and more perplexed. The mind

below his thick skull was racing a mile a minute Why couldn't he find out what happened between the

two. The thoughts disturbed him that two friends broke up so quickly, the fact that they were so close

made it even worse. He and Sunil were great friends... the best of friends, the thought of drifting apart

from his buddy scared him to death, and he couldn't believe that would be a possibility.

As his tiny brain kicked in, he realized there was only one thing to do, there was only one way he could

find out. He would have had to talk to his friends Pepper and Sunil. He didn't think about what

consequences there might be, he didn't think about Sunil's reaction, he didn't think about what he

might get from the information, he didn't know what he would do with the information... but he

thought far enough that he needed to know... and asking his buddy or Pepper was the only way.

Vinnie rushed up to his friend and slapped/tapped him on the back "Sunil what happened between you

and Pepper". ... Sunil looked at his best friend confused.

"What ever do you mean Vinnie?" he replied.

"Well, ive been talking to the other pets and they have been telling me that you guys used to be really

good friends, best friends even".

Sunil looked on with a slight nervousness, with apprehension, almost like Vinnie did right before his

obedience school test. Vinnie could see his mind working, beads of sweatr dripping down his forhead.

A nervous smile spread across his face "well, yes I am guessing we were closer back when i first came

here ... why do you want to know this?"

Vinnie was just about to answer, his mouth wide open, but before sound could come out of his mouth

Sunil came to a hasty conclusion about Vinnie's questions.

"OHHHH!" Sunil said interrupting Vinnie. "I know why you are asking me this, you jealous little lizard,

You have nothing to worry about, you are my best friend, me and Peppers friendship will not get in the

way of ours, i promise you".

"Thats not it Sunil, i just wanted to know why you weren't any more, why you guys aren't best buddies

anymore, it seems kinda sad as all."

Sunil once again froze in nervousness, but then he let it go, and he let out a hard sigh, and spoke in a

depressing yet truthful tone... "I do not know Vinnie, it was just really complicated between her and me,

you wouldn't understand".

"I'll try to understand, i promise ill try, just please tell me, it sounds so dang sad". Vinnie replied.

"Oh it is not sad Vinnie, we did not fight or anything, it just sort of happened, to be honest i am not

entirely certain how" Sunil said.

"Well could you at least tell me what happened around that time, and i could try to figure it out

for myself." Vinnie replied

"Well Vinnie... i do not think i want to" Sunil said "I am to afraid, it was an emotional state of

affairs, i think we should just drop it".

Vinnie suddenly remembered what zoe had told him about his first week at the pet shop. "That's not the

kind of attitude that got you to be friends with the other pets no was it"

"Vinnie, whatever do you mean?" Sunil said in confusion.

"You didn't want to play with the pets when you first came hear, you only wanted to play with pepper,

You didn't want them to reject you like the kits in india, but she persuaded you and you did, because of

What she pushed you to do you have everyone as friends... so buck up mister mongoose! Put that

Fear aside so we can deal with the problem?"

Something struck a chord in Sunil at that moment. Sunil began to tense up, his body shaking, his fists

clenched, vinnie's speech had brought back a sensitive memory, a memory he had managed to suppress

in the years since that day (whether he surpressed them by his own will or not was a mystery)" Spittle

began to form at his mouth. He began to yell, barring is straight white teeth.

"Problem?... Problem!?... NO! ILL TELL YOU WHAT IS THE PROBLEM! YOU NOSING  
AROUND IN OTHER PEOPLES BUSINESS! YOU THINK YOU CAN COME TO ME AND TALK TO ME

AGAINST MY WILL, YOU DONT KNOW WHAT HAPPENED AND YOULL NEVER KNOW... I AM DONE

TALKING TO YOU!

Sunil walked away stomping as he crossed into the entrance way through the pet door.

Vinnie stood there alone, tears beginning to form from his eyes.

**WOAH! THAT FELT DARK! Any way thank you for reading and please remember to review if you **

**are willing to, i would really appreciate your thoughts **


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey all, January has been a crap month... back to school and work from the holiday's. Semester 1**

**exams for highschool (at least where I am) and NO DAMN SNOW TO PLAY IN (unless you in new York, **

"**You have my sympathies" {milk covered robot head smiles}) Anyway i hope this brightens up your **

**mood.**

Vinnie sat in the corner, eyes stained by half an hour old tears, truly upset not for himself but for his

best friend. He wasn't angry at Sunil, and in his heart he knew Sunil wasn't angry with him. He knew his

buddy like the back of his hand, and he knew that he struck a chord with his friend, that his anger

was directed towards the emotion filled memory rather than Vinnie. Vinnie himself recalled snapping

at Sunil when he brought up the day when he lost his tail TWICE! It saddened Vinnie greatly to see his

friend in such stress and repression. He was determined more than ever not only to find out what

happened but to fix it. Yes! He would fix it, that would be his birthday present to Sunil, screw the collage

he had planned earlier, this birthday present was going to last, if his name wasnt Vinnie Alfonzo Terrio,

damnit he would make this the best gift his buddy could ever receive.

He knew where he had to go. He needed to see Pepper, the girl he so humiliatingly chickened out on

talking to the day after he heard about Sunil and Pepper being best friends. And unlike that first day he

approached her with no fear, calmly walking up to Pepper to ask her the question that was burning in

his brain, the questions possible implications giving him more fear than Peppers revilment could ever

dream.

"Pepper... can I speak to you about somethin?" Vinnie said as he approached Pepper, lying down

Working at writing joke notes.

The skunk looked up from what she was doing "Need to borrow another balloon for that collage? Russell

told me you were working on one, cause let me tell yeah i don't think it will stick well with glue".

"No im done with the collage, i need to ask you something... something personal if you don't mind." Vinnie replied.

"Alrighty then", she said cockily, bouncing up from her work smiling , "shoot gecko, there isn't any topic

that'll disturb me, ive heard it all!"

"Ok well i have been talking to Russell and Zoe, and they have been telling me that you and Sunil used

to be bff's right?"

Peppers mouth opened slightly and her eyes widened, both shocked and disillusioned... she felt a deep

worrying strain in her chest as floods of memories came back to her in an instant, disturbia set in...

slowly but surely Peppers open mouth turned to a light frown and her eyes drooped down in slight

despair. She sat back down, letting her head and eyes fall to the ground.

Letting out a short sigh she said, "_Yeah_... I guess we were best friend...sorta...".

"Well that's why I came Pepper... I... wanted to know what happened with you guys, ya know, why you

aren't so close now. I want to find out what happened so I can comfort Sunil, when I brought the whole

thing up he seemed to get upset and we had a fight... so can you tell me what happened."

She was ready to deny the lizards request in her dumpy mood, but then thought about how it effected

Sunil, and how Vinnie wanted to console him. She didn't want Sunil to be still upset over what

happened, and if anyone could comfort him it wouldn't be her re-discussing the unfortunate

event, it would be his best friend.

"Oh...Ok..." She said under her face fur. She sat upward and looked at Vinnie, visible distress still on

her face.

"I guess it all started in late winter, just about a month after Christmas. It was Presidents Day, since it

was a holiday Mrs. Twombly decided to close the shop, as all the pets would be at home with their

owners and other stores wouldn't be open... but because she had a day off and because she was

experiencing a surge of good business she decided to host a dinner party for all the regular owners

of pets who were taken care of here. And of course all of the pets got brought by their owners for the

fun of it, my owner took me and the Nevla's took Sunil. I actually met his parents for the first time."

Pepper smirked and began to chuckle "OH gosh! They were worse than he was! They were telling him

left and right not to touch anything, afraid that he would catch something or get a bruise , they were

jumping at every loud sound there was." She stopped and let out a deep sigh, recovering from her

humour. Her smile faded and she continued.

"They met me and at first they seemed off put by my jokes, but they started to like me. Anyways we

me and Sunil started to play around, we were play fighting, and joking, dancing to the music being

played when we felt like it,but Sunil didn't seem himself. All throughout the night he just had a weird

awkward smile, just under the happiness of our playing you could tell he was nervous about something.

Over the course of the night he would became jittery and often he would look as if he was entranced in

a deep thought. And another thing he did, Every once and awhile when I was talking to some other pet, I

would look back to Sunil and he would already be starring at me, DEEPLY starring at me. When I turned

around he would quickly look somewhere else. He looked like he knew that there was a killer coming,

like it was coming for me and he had to look out for it at all times. He was actin real strange.

"So then slow music started to come on the music player, real slow like, like in those stupid girly movies

when the main girls are having a date montage. Every couple in the room started to slow dance, swayin

back and forth in their arms and stuff. Some of us pets started to do it too, we didn't really care we

were just copying our owners, trying to do what they did, we thought it looked cool. We were doing it

with each other randomly, I danced with Zoe and Penny danced with Minka (Russell and Sunil weren't

having any of it."

Pepper froze up, she took a deep breath, and continued. "Then Sunil singled me out, and asked me

directly to dance with him, still in that same awkward voice he used earlier. He took me into his arms

and we began to move around and dance to the music, but it wasn't good fun like the rest of us dancing,

it was all awkward. I could feel him all tensed up, he was all stiff. We couldn't look at each other,

whenever we looked up at each other, we would look back down, it was just too awkward for the both

of us. Even though I liked dancing with him, and I knew he liked doing it with me, there was a really

awkward air."

"I couldn't handle it, it was too much, I tried to break the ice, i needed to get rid of that funk or i was

gonna go insane! I Started to twirl around playfully, encouraging him to pick up the pace, i forced him to

along and he had trouble catching up but it worked. We picked up the pace of our strokes, keeping in

line with the beat but moving faster and flowy than anyone else. We both started to smile, we were

having good fun, it worked, we felt amazing. We both laughed a little as we continued, and it all ended

with him doing a dip on me. I looked up at him, he had a huge grin on his face, and i smiled back... and

then..." pepper paused.

"What happened"? Vinnie asked in her silence.

"... he bent down... and kissed me..." she said looking down.

"WAHT!?" Vinnie screamed as he fell to the ground in shock.

**ITS HAPPENING! It'll get even better... I promise. **


	9. Chapter 9

**HEY GUYS... this chapter is shorter but i will come out with something bigger and juicier soon if school **

**allows me to. PS if you haven't read any of the previous chapters please go back and do so.**

The day he yelled at Vinnie was hard for Sunil, he had felt deep regret at his unnecessary aggression

towards his best friend. It was not Vinnie's fault him and Pepper had awkward memories , and it was

not Vinnie's fault Sunil had to deal with his emotions. Those same emotions he felt on that night also

weighed on him, it was the first day Sunil had truly thought about his dance with Pepper in a long time.

He remembered it like it was yesterday... that day he did the stupidest thing any love struck boy could

ever do. He remembered the event like it was yesterday.

He thought back to the day he saw Pepper enter the petshop with her owners, that puppy love that he

had felt for his female friend (although he didn't want to remember it) the flutter his heart felt as he saw

Pepper walk into the shop in the most beautiful pink pet dress he had ever seen. He couldn't deny it, the

little kit Sunil had loved his friend. He had felt it for months before that day, he loved the jokes she

made and how he ended up madly giggling every single time she made one. He loved how playful she

was... how well they roughhoused and explored together more than any other pet was willing to in

those first months at the petshop. And she was pretty, the sight of her beautiful grey and white fur

made him smile with wonder.

It was no surprise that he had told his parents about his friend/crush excitedly, into great detail he

described his games with her and all of the "wonderful" qualities she had , his parents had been excited

to see her, they had even considered meeting her parents and discussing arranging marriage between

the two if things had went well.

"There she is" Sunil said as he pointed her out to his parents. "Please don't tell her i like her... and, and

don't do anything embarrassing."

Sunil got Peppers attention from the crowd, "hello Pepper! Come over here, these are my parents".

She excitedly came to greet them "Well howdy Nevla's, Sunny's told me about you guys".

"He has told us quite a bit about you as well, we are happy to meet you, Pepper" , his mother said.

His father joined in, "So Sunil tells us that you are a comedian".

"Sure am."

She began to tell them her jokes, many of them were about Indian culture and the like, no doubt from

the tales and tribulations he had told her his home country had to offer. Many of them could have easily

been interpreted as offensive... but thankfully his parents were understanding to Pepper's brash

attitude.

Pepper was bored, not getting any laughs from either of her friend's parents. She took Sunil and

Dragged him over to were there friends were in the corner.

And like most days in that time period he couldn't get his focus off of Pepper. He would often take time

To stare at her directly. He would marvel at her beauty and think about the two of them, being together.

That second thought had dragged on his mind for awhile, and it began to stir in his mind further. He

wanted to be more than friends with her, that was a given... but how would he go about telling her such

a thing... and what if she would reject his advances, would she still be his friend after he told her?

That thought scared him the most, but the thought of keeping his feelings silent scared him as well. He

began to get nervous and look at Pepper with increased wanting along with increased fear.

The gaze he gave Pepper was a mix of desire and fear, and she must have felt it because she would

occasionally meet his awkward gaze, he would quickly look away.

He began to not be able to take anymore of it, and it wasn't helped by Pepper wanting to dance with .

Him.

As they twirled around his mind was in more stress, he couldn't look at Pepper, the conflicting fears

of him loosing her as a friend and him not being able to admit his feelings was too great for him to

acknowledge her so closely. But she began to pick it up, and go faster... he was so focused on not

tripping that it put him out of his depressive daze. He began to smile at the fun dance they had,

he began to twirl and play with her further, laughing and twisting all the way.

Then he dipped her. She hung in his arm while he stared down at her, meeting her gaze directly. Able to

look comfortably in those beautiful purple eyes, he had a sudden epiphany. Pepper had got him to

get rid of his social fears on that one day after his arrival, she had given him the strength to do

something he could never do on his own, make friends with the rest of the pets.

She was his inspiration, she was the friend that made him braver than he could ever dream to be

Without her. And that is the inspiration that made him stop worrying about his fear of the

Consequences of rejection or his fear to not admit. He bent down and kissed his friend in the embrace of

the dip.

**That was it. Hope you liked it! I know it was basically a retelling of the first but I feel i didn't show sunil's feelings enough, but i promise more juicyness coming soon**


	10. Chapter 10

**Well my fanfiction is officially uncanon now... no really... an episode just came out showing Russell **

**as one of the last pets to arrive at the pet shop, before penny and after Vinnie... HOW THE HELL AM I **

**GONNA RIGHT MY WAY OUT OF THIS?!**

"So let me get this straight!" the small lizard half yelled to Pepper.

"He kissed you... like... on the lips!?'

"Yes... for the fourth time". Pepper said annoyed at her friend's overblown reaction.

"BUT WHY?... GROSS!", Vinnie said.

"Whaddya mean WHY!?" Pepper said. "Curry boy wanted himself some American spice...Any boy

would be lucky to get a taste of these lips", she said cockily, annoyed at his disbelief of Sunil's attraction

to her.

Vinnie cringed... "Ok but seriously though, that cant be the end of it... what happened after that to

make you guys drift apart".

Pepper began to feel worse at the mention of that, she came down from her boasting high, forced to

deal with the horrible memory face on.

"Well... at that moment it shocked me just about as much as it did you".

Pepper forcefully tugged free from Sunil's embrace... and with the gravity force from the dip she was in,

she fell to the floor.

Sunil looked with mild surprise down at his friend... still trying to process the situation.

Pepper looked up at Sunil just as confused about the event that transpired. She laughed a little, she

didn't know what else to do.

"he he... what was that about?" she replied, choosing to interpret the kiss as confusion or a joke on his

part.

Sunil froze in fear, his friend thought his action was a joke, she didn't embrace the kiss, something that

he thought she should have done if she had liked him.

"Wha-wha-what do y-you mean what was it about?" He peeped.

"Whadya mean what do i mean... why'd ya kiss me buddy?" She replied.

Sunil was mortified... was this her rejecting his advances... "I... i...i ...i... didn't mean too".

"really?" She replied... "That is something very hard to do by accident."

Sunil began to tense up more and more, he was ready to get up and run away, but he had to stand tall,

He had to face his fear like he did long ago, he would have to face his future girlfriend like he faced his

now best friends in that moment.

"Pepper", he started... puffing his chest up and swallowing a gulp of air, ready to confess.

"I just have to tell you that... i like you alot... you are very pretty and you are the best friend i have

ever had... i kissed you because i wanted too... i should have asked first, and i am sorry, but do you like

me as well?"

He finished with a nervous smile on his face.

Pepper froze, eyes widened, lip synching down, she recalled to Vinnie how the initial shock took her

by surprise first, she couldn't even comprehend what she just heard.

"S-s-so you weren't kidding about that...?" She said.

"No i wasn't, i like you, i want you to be my girlfriend Pepper... what do you think?"

Her heart nearly skipped a beat in that moment, she started to shake at the weight of Sunil's confession.

"I...i don't know..." She said back.

At that moment Sunil became incredibly nervous, her confusion mirrored his.

"What do you do not know... you do not know if you want to be my girlfriend or you do not understand

what i meant?"

Pepper admitted to Vinnie as they were talking that she didn't love Sunil when she was a kid and when

She was being confronted, small tears began to form in the corners of her eyes as she said this,

obviously this was an emotional past moment that led to them breaking up... but Vinnie was very

perplexed as to why her not loving him would make her cry, it was only expected when such a brash girl

was so young and undeveloped.

Pepper in her shock continued to speak to Sunil at the party.

"I...i... don't know... i don't know if i love you... i've never had a crush on anyone... ive never

Loved anyone...".

Sunil became slightly disheartened, but became stronger... she didn't know if he loved him... maybe

he could test her... convince her of loving him even.

"Just look into your heart Pepper, you have to like me somehow, why would you hold my hand and hug

me so much if there isn't something for me in your heart... look into your heart... what does it say

about me".

"i...i ...i just did that stuff to because we were friends... i-i-i didn't know you like me..."

"Well... i do." He replied.

The tears in Peppers eyes became more noticeable to Sunil "Well i...i... i can't be your girlfriend...

your my friend... friends don't kiss each other... friends

Cant be a couple."

Sunil's chest felt as if it had caved in from the words said, the fear of her rejection had come true,

everything that could go wrong did. He began to cry silently, tears running down his face, mouth open

from shock at the final destination of his desire.

He then realized couldn't let this go farther, the jig was up, his desire was vanquished. He tried to

restore his previous state, but it was no good.

"PEPPER!... I am sorry!... I should not have said anything!... just forget what i have said!... lets

forget about it! Lets just be friends like you want!"

Pepper remained silent... tears staining her eyes as well.

"I cant do this..." She said grievingly, "I cant do this right now".

She began to scurry away, Sunil began to chase after her.

"PEPPER! COME BACK!" he yelled.

She stopped and turned around, looking sunil in mid stream of her weaping.

"Pepper please..." He said more calmingly. "We can work this out... we do not have to do this right

now... we can deal with this whenever your ready".

Pepper looked at him, tears still in eyes. And in a quiet hushed voice she managed to blurt through her

Tears.

"Ill never be ready..." She said scurrying away... crying as she ran.

Sunil looked dumb stricken, immediately understanding the weight of her statement, immediately

realizing he couldn't repair what he had done just minutes before.

He let out an utter shriek of painful sadness. An utter scream that reflected the weight of his friends

painful departure. Tears poured from his eyes as he stood there, broken.

Even the humans at the party began to look around, trying to find the source of the high pitched

squeal they heard below them.

"And that was it" Pepper said, "It all ended just like that"...

Letting her floodgates down, the tears she had never let anyone see, she felt herself lunge at Vinnie,

hugging him as he stared on in shock.

**Well that was... dark. It gets better happier, i promise.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11 for ya'll, posting this at 12:00 AM like a boss, enjoy**

"So thats how it happened?... Like... for real?" Vinnie asked as Pepper began to start calming down.

"Yeah..." She replied, looking down at her lap, the white curl of her hair once again covering her face.

"Wow... ", he uttered... "Its a good thing Sunil will never like me that way, glad i dont have to deal

with that."

"Thanks buddy... your doing wonders to make me feel better over here", the snarky skunk replied.

"Sorry", he said back, "But im gonna fix it all, you wont have to worry about any of that stuff that

happened anymore".

Pepper looked up "Whaddya mean Vinnie?"

"Thats what i was gonna do, for Sunil's birthday present... i was gonna do a collage but after I heard

about all this i decided i wanted to fix it."

"Oh come on Vinnie, thats sweet but really silly, this is between me and Sunil, not you, dont worry your

head over it." She replied. "Besides... how would you go about doing it anyway".

"Well I thought I would learn about what happened with you and him and... " He paused. "And...

and... okay! I don't really have a plan, I just thought I could hear about what happened and

try to fix it... but I do want to fix it... Sunil is my best friend, and when I mentioned the stuff you

did back then he got really angry, but i could tell it wasn't towards you, when i mentioned you helping

him overcome his shyness it really hit a nerve... it's clearly troubling him, I thought if I made you

Guys friends again he might get over it."

"You cant just make us friends again Vinnie, it doesn't work like that Vinnie," Pepper shot back.

"You want to be better friends with him again... right?" Vinnie replied.

"... Yah" Pepper said, feeling slightly defeated, not in the mood for telling another lie.

"Well YOU don't worry about it... let me deal with Sunil, I promise I'll work it out".

"Fine", Pepper replied "just dont get yourself into any trouble."

"Of course I wont" He shot back triumphantly, "SAFETY IS MY MIDDLE NAME".

"I thought it was Alfonzo"...

Vinnie pouted, "HMPH! I make that statement to the girl with the best sense of humour and get

the same response as anyone else... but like I said, i'll take it nice and slow when I'm workin it all

out."

"There are more important things going on with you that you should focus on 'taking slow' more than

me and Sunil". Pepper replied.

"Like what?"

"Penny..." she replied bluntly.

Vinnie froze, as if his every cell of his body did a double take.

"I-Uh... dont know what your talkin about bra" he said as his voice cracked.

"Oh come on", Pepper bellowed, "Its obvious Vinnie, the only one who hasn't seen you stare at her with

those droopy eyes is Penny, AND THATS BECAUSE YOUR QUICK ENOUGH TO LOOK AWAY!"

"Ya right! Im a lizard! My eyes are half close all the time!" , he yelled desperately.

"Oh yeah? What's this?" she said holding up a piece of paper.

"Beats me... what is it?"

Pepper began to read off of the paper. _"To The Panda who makes my heart melt with everlasting _

_Beauty..."_

Vinnie jumped straight into the air from his seat on a cushion "WHERE DID YOU GET THAT?!". He

rushed over to her, trying to grab it from her as she held it upwards... continuing to read it.

Pepper read half giggling "_Like flower petals in the wind, your words cascade through my ears "._

"STOP! GIVE IT BACK!"... Pepper finally released her hold on the dreaded note.

Vinnie rushed to grab it "Where did you get that from!?"

"It was on one of the cushions in the corner, just laying there! Penny was literally about to sit there

when I found it... you almost got burned Vinnie".

"Maybe I meant for her to see it. I took a long time to right that, and... " He paused, scared to admit it "

I do like her okay! And I wanted to let her know".

"Do you even know if she likes you?". Pepper replied

"...no."

"Then you shouldn't be all uppity about it, if she doesn't like you like that and you admit it to her, she

may take it well, but she may also take it horribly and react like i did with Sunil"

"So what should I do?" He replied.

"Well dont take me as an expert on anything lovey dovey like that, but if i were to give any advice i

would just try to see if she likes you, wait around, wait and see if she shows any signs of liking you."

Pepper replied.

"Signs like what?" Vinnie said.

"Well, see if she wants to spend more time with you, see if she laughs at your jokes... even if they are

bad. And my personal favourite..." She walked Vinnie with her chicken, prompting him to squeak.

"See if she teases ya a little bit, that's always a sign." She smiled.

"Well, thanks i guess, I'll see". Vinnie said.

"Most importantly, if you really want to approach her, be as vague as possible, ask her if you want

to go out alone with her to somewhere or do something, and then follow from there."

"Thanks", Vinnie said back "I guess if Sunil had tried that stuff and waited to see if you liked him you

would have avoided that whole ordeal".

"Yeah, i wish Sunil had waited, we definitely could have avoided all that mishap", Pepper said.

Vinnie shot back "Anyway my owner is here, thank you for the advice Pep!"

"Any time buddy", she happily replied.

"And dont worry about the whole thing!" He yelled as he left, "Sunil should have waited, but you guys

Won't have to wait to be friends again any longer".

As he left, Peppers smile faded.

She looked at the ground, hiding her face with her curl, despite there being no one their to see her.

"Yeah...", she said to herself.

"I guess it's my turn to wait now..."

**OOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHH wahts happnin... whats happnin! Is it happening?... I think it's **

**Happening.**


	12. Peppers interlude

**An interlude on Peppers feelings. **

Pepper had come to a sort of acceptance about it, she accepted that she needed to wait for Sunil to

show the signs of love towards her, before she could act, as for the past year or so she had found herself

in the same position as her former BFF. She couldn't pin point when it began, but the first signs of her

interest in Sunil started almost half a year after her outfall with Sunil, and it took only a few more

months to develop into a strong crush. And it surprised her when she, a brash skunk that had trouble

dealing with her inner feelings, knew exactly why she was crushing on him.

She loved his playfulness and excitability, he was still like he was as a child that way, out of all the pets

he was the most willing to participate in games or play or harmless schemes whether it was with Pepper

or anyone else. Pepper found that whenever she wanted to play a harmless trick or play a game, Sunil

was the one to go to as other pets were more preoccupied with their own interests rather than good old fun.

She herself shared his playful qualities, allowing them to have a great deal of fun together even after their

friendship had been weakened. She loved his sense of humour, Sunil like Pepper found the ability to

see humour at anything but the most serious situations. Maybe it was just wishful thinking... but

she always thought she heard him laughing the hardest at her jokes, and as she had already told to the

entire gang before she LOVED his laugh the most out of any of the gang. She loved his talent, despite her

playful teasing, he always got her to beam in wonder at his tricks... she often questioned whether he

was better at magic then she was at comedy, she didn't mind to admit as well that his performances

often time made her laugh as well, comedy and magic went hand in hand. His flaws

weren't off putting either, she often felt sorry for him when he got afraid and timid... her inner child

wished she could go and help him overcome the fear as she had done before, alas... her own inward

fear towards emotionally connecting with Sunil prevented her from doing so (most of the time anyway).

She often was jealous of Sunil in his ability to make known his fears and issues, as she herself had

trouble expressing her emotions and often kept her inner feelings pent up, leading to trouble in many

circumstances. She often fantasised reconciling herself with Sunil, both of them helping each

other become better, as sometimes he felt he was better than her in that pets took less offense to him

in his off moments. And, to top it all off, ... he was pretty cute too in Pepper's taste. His large hazel

eyes were some of the most mesmerizing peepers she had ever seen on a male, she often found she

couldn't look into them directly for fear of blushing or swooning. He was big and muscular too, for a pet

anyway, now that she thought about it he was the largest tallest and strongest pet in the shop, easily

towering over her and her friends... when compared to Sharukh (a bollywood mongoose in his physical

prime) she found Sunil was taller and more broad-chested. And that accent! It caused her to sweat

anytime Sunil dared to whisper or act macho in front of her with his thick accent. She often dreamed of

being in his arms, enraptured by his muscles, as he whispered his love for her into her ears.

And all of these wonderful qualities of his put heavy weight on her heart, she found herself trying to

deny her feelings (when the truth was obvious), but faced with the evidence she quickly learnt to live

with it. And hard that living was, not only was her friendship weakened from its previous state, she now

had a crush on a pet that had a crush for her not long ago. She received no outward signs Sunil still

loved her after their falling out, nothing for her to pounce on, and it often caused her termoil and

frustration.

A temporary relief of her love sick symptoms came in the form of a handsome polecat, Captain Cuddles.

Her yearning for Sunil was subjugated with this new distraction, her desire for Sunil (while not

Diminished) was put on hold in her newfound crush. But after she managed successfully become his

girlfriendshe (and he as well) found their interests for each other were purely based on each others

physical splendour (AN: where is F Scott Fitzgerald to write this story for me?!) , they had nothing in

common with each other emotionally or interest wise... and ended the relationship soon after.

And after this she came back to her usual set of symptoms.

Her turmoil became the worst however just a few months ago with the secret cupid incident. She had

thought Sunil trying to romance her would be a pleasurable experience, but it wasn't in the slightest.

The secret cupid and her powers where no secret by time Sunil came onto her. And while she wanted to

embrace him like he was trying to do with her, she felt as if the Sunil's romantic readiness (AN: straight out of Great Gatsby page 1, I told you!)

wasn't real. She had seen Sunil trying to pursue females in fits of over pouring romance, with Delilah

especially, and while she held no grudge towards Delilah at all she was jealous of that type of attraction

with Sunil. This wasn't Sunil prostrating, it was Sunil possessed! Enraptured by pepe le pew bullcrap! It

was not attractive, it was abhorrent as she knew it wasn't real, understandably she struggled to Sunil's

advances the least of all the girls... but she struggled nonetheless.

And then the climax, the piece de resistance of heartbreak... when Sunil awoke from his love drunken

stupor, in a fit of disgust, he dropped Pepper to the ground from the dip he had her in. He once kissed

her in a dip when they were kids, how she wished she was in love with him in that moment, he presently

was so disgusted at the idea of being with her, that instead of her reeling in the shook of a kiss she felt

herself dropped her on the cold floor. As she lay on the floor, it first registered in her mind the true

implications of such an action, and it almost brought her to tears in that moment... and DID bring her to

tears in the quiet of her home... Sunil didn't share her feelings of love. She couldn't blame him, to be

honest, they had been estranged bff's for a long time, they had been friends of course but the bond they

once shared was gone, and along with it his love for her faded. The dance she shared with him when

Zoe sang in triumph at her sisters rescue, the times he hid in her tail, the hard laughing at all of her jokes

were just wishful proofs her mind made up to convince herself Sunil might like her... in reality he didn't,

weighed hard on her for a long time, and came to surface again fully when her discussion with Vinnie

came to play.

**Up next: Sunil's interlude...does Sunil still feel for Pepper? Can he put to rest his innermost feelings **

**about her? Will Vinnie be able to fix their friendship after all? Are Littlest pet shop videos on YouTube **

**literally disease? And will TELETOON ever release a good tv show AGAIN?! Stay tuned for the **

**answer...**


	13. Sunil's Interlude

**Well, how do i explain myself out of this one? My school came back from strike, so i was focused on finishing my grades with what i had missed... also i took an accelerated summer school course, and that left me extremely busy (i got a 90% though ****), and the month that i DID have for summer i spent doing lots of things. Thank you to all of you who decided to wait patiently and continue with the story, your awesome. To those who are just starting it please read the first chapter before starting this one... thank you.**

Needless to say Sunil was just as affected by the recent events as Pepper. Not only had he yelled

unjustifiably at his best friend, the renewed memories of his friendship and crush with Pepper had left

him very upset. He wasn't mad at HER, he cursed the very thought... he was mad at himself. He knew

enough that it was not her to blame for their fallout, he forced himself onto her and she was justified in

her reaction. He was the one to blame for not controlling his feelings for her. UGH! The very thought

made him sick, how could he have EVER loved someone like Pepper? After the dreadful events his

love for Pepper quickly faded away, probably helped by the fact that they refused to even talk to each

other for months afterwards. He was proud of himself, he was proud that he overcome Pepper and

squashed the love bug. And it gave him absolute confidence when he couldn't see what Captain

Cuddles saw in Pepper... "I don't see it". Those words made him feel amazing, he had finally overcome

his crush. Unfortunately over the past few days, this source of comfort continually stewed in his mind.

The more he began to realize that his thinking was flawed. It wasn't fair in the slightest to say that

nothing could be seen in Pepper, sure he didn't like her anymore, but he realized that she could easily

be a potential partner for someone else. First of all she was hilarious, although some of her jokes fell

flat... and some of her teasing became a little off putting, she was able to make Sunil laugh from his gut

quite often. She was always able to brighten up a room with her jokes, and able to brighten up Sunil

most times. He remembered when he loved her, how her jokes would play in his head all the time, how

giddy he felt that she would run her jokes by him before anyone else. Second of all he loved her sense of

right and wrong. Although she would tease him sometimes he still could not ignore how good hearted

she was deep down. He recalled how she stood up against Russell and Zoe's narcism when the two

were feuding over their talk show dedicated to "helping" pets, how she brought back the focus from

their selfishness. He remembered the time when all the pets where mistreating Mitzi the skunk, how

she corrected them all for abusing her scents. Third, he remembered how playful she was and how fun

she was to be around. She was the most willing to have fun in the petshop, she was always excited and

ready to have a good time, Minka might have been the prime choice for such fun, but she always went

a little too far. Because of this, even after the two had stopped being BFF's, he always loved to play

around with her when Vinnie wasn't available. He remembered back to his childhood, her playfulness

(combined with his playfulness) was what made them such good friends in the first place. And fourth,

She was very pretty. Although he purposefully didn't notice her looks now, he realized she was a very

Beautiful skunk. He remembered how enraptured he was as a child, thinking about her soft fur, her

bushy tail, her cute face, and her gorgeous purple eyes. With all of these qualities he could easily see

how she would make a reasonable mate for most pets... but definitely not with him... and definitely

not with Captain Cuddles. As he thought more he realized his not "seeing it" was more directed to

Captain Cuddles than anything, in face he remembered that he thought they weren't compatible as

he said it, and he was right... considering they broke up not to long afterwards. But she wasn't for him

either... DEFINATELY not. He even had proof to back his feelings up. When he woke up from kissing her

after being under Sprinkles spell, he immediately dropped her to the floor with disgust, wiping his lips.

That made him feel fantastic! Pepper was a great girl, but it was clear he had no interest in her. With his

proof in place he settled down from his pacing, dwelling on the thought of him dropping her in disgust

wiping his lips, taking solace in the action. But as he thought about it more the solace began to fade. He

realized that in the exact moment her dropped her he had her in the same position as that night many

years ago, holding her in a deep dip. When he kissed her on that night she rejected him and fell to the

floor, and he began to recall that as he awoke form Sugar Spinkles spell he remembered this event as he

was holding her, and violently ended such an interaction. With his biggest reassurances now dead, Sunil

began to think further on how he felt about Pepper. BAH! He didn't need proof, regardless of the lack of

proof he wasn't interested in her, he clearly didn't feel that way anymore. He loved those qualities

about her, but he clearly didn't like her, his mind was crystal clear on that front. But the thoughts

didn't stop, even as he slept dreams about her still came to him, and as he woke his daily routine could

not distract him. As time went on, his crystal clear conscience... grew increasingly muddy.

**Yay, that's over. I'll update whenever... thanks for sticking in if you were anticipating this. **


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